100 snippets from Dante's life
by plavo-sunce
Summary: In order to get myself back into writing I challenged myself to write 100 drabbles, some quite short, some a wee bit longer, but all describing random scenes from Dante's life (not always from his point of view).
1. 1 to 5

**Author's note:** I will post five drabbles in each chapter. Don't know how fast I'll write them though, as short as they might be, they were still a pain to write.

**1. Beauty**

First time she saw him was when he walked into the diner.

By the way he was greeted it seemed he was a frequent customer. And what a strange man he was.

As he made his way to the counter to sit down with just one seat separating the two of them, his unusual attire drew her attention first. After all you don't see many people walking around in broad daylight wearing black and red leather from head to toe, in fact this guy was the first one, and the first to actually look good in red pants.

For a brief moment she mused if he looked so good without them as well. If she ever had the chance to find that out first-hand, it would probably took ages to unbuckle all those belts going across his torso. Why did he need three belts, four if you count the one on his pants with a big silver buckle, she just couldn't figure out. What kind of a beast hides underneath that black shirt that it needs to be contained in such a way? She feared the answer, for it could very likely be one of those that eat you whole and leave nothing but an empty shell staring at the equally empty bed illuminated by the morning sun.

The attire was perfectly completed with a long leather coat, of red color that could easily burn your eyes if you stared at it for too long. That theory would not be proven just yet as her eyes traveled higher to finally look at his face.

For a moment her mood sank like the Titanic when his white hair made her assume that she spent all this time fantasizing about an old guy, until he lifted his head a bit, revealing a young face with a light stubble adorning his jaw. Either genetics played a trick on him, giving him white hair ahead of time, or he knew a damn good plastic surgeon. She sincerely hoped it was the former. Especially when his eyes became visible to her, two bright blue lakes she wouldn't mind drowning in. And which were now staring right back at her, bringing her back to reality and to the sound of her friend's voice calling her name quite angrily. Now she too had something red on her, her very much red face. She also had a great desire for the ground to open under her, as she sat between an angry friend shouting in her ear on her right and the object of her desire smirking on her left.

Still, can one be blamed for admiring such beauty?

**2. Love**

To love someone means to suffer greatly when you lose them. Dante knew that all to well. Especially because his heritage combined with his line of work meant an even greater danger of losing loved ones.

That's why when he found himself starting to really care about that kid, he suppressed his feelings and backed away. Let the boy decide on his own if he wants to hang out with the big bad demon hunter and face all the danger that comes with him. To have a normal life, with a kind, loving woman by his side, that's something Dante sometimes dreamed about and that's something he wants Nero to have. Cause that's what you do when you love someone.

**3. Dream**

He was sitting on a park bench. Just sitting there, letting the wind play with his soft, white hair. His bright blue eyes looked ahead, but saw nothing. And then at one moment he was no longer alone. A familiar presence was now sitting next to him, same white hair, same face, but dressed in blue. Cold blue in contrast to his fiery red.

An arm wrapped around him, pulling him closer. His head felt so heavy and he let it fall down on the strong shoulder, a familiar scent from long time ago filling his nose. And after who knows how long he felt safe again, safe in his brothers arms.

And then the phone woke him up, and all he could feel now was the hardness of his chair and the smell of magazine covering his face.

Doesn't matter, once the damn thing stopped ringing he will go back there, back to his dream. Back to where Vergil is still alive.

**4. Haunted**

It was bad enough she dragged him to the fair, but then that little blond pest suggested, no, demanded that they go visit their haunted house. He hated those places. They were cheap, tacky and in general an insult to actual demons. And it's never good when something makes you actually feel sorry for the things you hunt for a living.

That's why he didn't feel any remorse for punching one of the actors in the face. The guy asked for it when he dared to show up wearing a red devil suit. Carrying a plastic pitchfork, for crying out loud!

Still the evening wasn't completely lost. He was granted a unique opportunity to see Patty sweating all embarrassed and apologizing in his name to the manager. He should enjoy this as much as he can, cause he could bet that first thing tomorrow morning she'll burn a significant hole in his wallet. And unfortunately that's one bet he knew he'll win.

**5. Memory**

He didn't need photo albums to keep memories alive, they were always in his head, playing like a movie whenever he closed his eyes. Good ones enjoyed, bad ones drowned in alcohol. The last birthday he and Vergil celebrated together, the first demon he killed, people he met throughout his life, all those things were like precious gems in the treasure chest.

He did once own a camera, though. One of bullets from Lady's gun went through it before ending up in his head. Should have been more quiet when entering the bathroom.


	2. 6 to 10

**Authors note:** First of all, I would like to thank my reviewers, your kind words were a tremendous boost for my self-confidence.

**Important:** Second story ignores some scientific facts for the sake of comedy, don't do this at home or you might end up injuring someone or burning down your house, maybe even the whole neighborhood.

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**6. Fragile**

She might not look like it, and she would definitely shoot him for saying it, but she is so fragile. He could imagine her being a happy little girl once, but what stood before him every time was a bitter amazon warrior, with a large rocket launcher on her back like it was the latest in fashion accessories.

But even her guns, and she carried a lot of them, were sometimes of no use against a surprise attack.

Dante feared those moments, when it became obvious that Lady, his pretty Lady, was just a fragile human being. And he can't be always there to protect her.

Today, he'll pick her unconscious form like she was a doll made of finest porcelain, observe that peaceful face for a moment, and then carry her home.

Tomorrow, who knows? For now he'll just think about today.

**7. Celebration**

It was New Years eve and the Devil May Cry agency was surprisingly full of people. Trish and Lady had no traveling plans this year, Patty was in her nagging-little-sister mood again, even Nero came with his girlfriend to visit, or as he so lovingly put it "to make sure the old geezer doesn't get all depressed and ruins holidays by killing himself", which earned him a jab in the ribs by his little redhead.

The aforementioned "old geezer" was currently standing on the roof, taking a break from movie night. The air was cold and as far as the eye could see everything was covered in a thick layer of snow. Standing there illuminated by the pink neon sign, with hands in pockets, Dante was glad his leather coat provided just enough warmth, although he wished he remembered to take a scarf before going up. He was slightly surprised as the soft clothing item found it's way around his neck, wrapped lovingly by Lady's hands. She was more than just tipsy, which would explain her unusual mellow attitude.

"What are you doing up here? You'll catch a cold."

"Just getting some fresh air. Hey, is everyone still watching TV?"

"Yeah, they are waiting for the countdown. Come downstairs so we can have some champagne." From her shiny eyes and slurred talk, it was quite obvious that champagne would be the finale of Lady's alcohol appreciation night.

"Just need to do something first..." Dante crouched down and lit a fuse with a lighter he took out of his pocket.

"Oh you got fireworks prepared, I love fireworks! But why is the fuse going downstairs?... Dante, why is the fuse going downstairs?!"

He put an arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Shh, it's a surprise."

All of a sudden it was like all hell broke loose as the sound of exploding fireworks echoed through the house, followed by two very loud shrieks, most probably from Kyrie and Patty, although Dante couldn't help but imagine Nero screaming like a girl, and the whole office was illuminated by lights of various colors, just in time to accompany the big fireworks above the town.

Dante was laughing like an idiot, with tears forming in the corner of his eyes, before it was cut short by Lady's lips pressing against his. With a dumbfounded expression he looked at her blushing face, even when a silver haired teenager tackled him to give him the first beating of the year.

**8. Secret**

He waited impatiently for the moment when Lady will be out of town for the weekend. He called her in the evening, to check if she arrived safely to her destination and if everything was to her liking. It would be a very bad thing for the woman to suddenly return home and find him making himself comfortable in her house. In her bathroom to be more precise.

It was a rather large bathroom, shiny clean and decorated in typical female fashion, an interesting contrast to the owners attitude and line of business.

It had light blue tiles, monogrammed towels, fluffy pink mat, even a little yellow ducky on the edge of a large bathtub. And of course, there were dozens of bottles and containers arranged on the shelf, containing things Dante rather not inquire about.

He started to fill the tub with water, fiddling with handles a little bit until the temperature was to his liking. For this occasion he had bought a bottle of strawberry scented bath foam, which he now poured in large quantity into the water. No point in saving when you don't know if this kind of opportunity will rise again.

After everything was prepared, he stripped his clothes off, letting them fall on the floor. Finally he submerged his naked body into the white foam, letting the warm water relax his aching muscles as he sank lower until only his head could be seen. Just barely seen, as both his hair and foam were snowy white. In the middle of the bath, the rubber ducky was happily floating and keeping him company.

After he was finished bathing, he dried himself off with a towel he brought and then proceeded to return everything into it's previous state. He didn't want Lady to find out what he had done or she might add her water bill to his debt. This will be his little secret.

**9. Promise**

In the short time they spent together, his mother taught him to always keep his promises. Although sometimes it would take a while, if he was strapped for cash at the moment.

That's why when Trish made him promise to spend the afternoon with her in the city, and it turned out she just needed someone to carry the stuff she planned on buying, he still tagged along. And now he was nervously fidgeting by the changing booths in a fancy boutique, while his blond partner was trying on yet another combination. Seriously, how many different shirts and pants does that woman need? And what does she do with them, since he mostly sees her in that same black leather outfit?

Of course, the whole ordeal would be far more enjoyable if there wasn't for the fact that she looked exactly like his mother, especially when they were in the lingerie section. At one point she checked if he had fever, that's how red in the face he was.

Finally she was done choosing. Now all he needed was to bring home all those boxes and bags. Demon senses came in useful, there is no way he would otherwise know where he was going with that mountain of stuff blocking his vision. At least Trish was nice enough not to slip him the bill this time.

**10. Innocence**

He was slowly walking home, tired from fighting demons all night. He wasn't just physically exhausted, the more he had to deal with demons, the more he had to deal with humans summoning said demons, he found himself asking if it's all worth it.

And then he heard someone squealing and laughing. Turning to the source of the sound, he realized it came from the children playing in the park. He sat on the nearby bench and looked at those innocent little angels, running and playing, not worrying about a thing. And the more he looked, the clearer it became to him why he chose his path. How could those children play so happily if there wasn't a man like him to ensure their safety? And he will continue to do so for as long as he can.

But he better get home now, if he continues to stare at those kids, combined with his not very presentable looks, parents might get the wrong idea.


	3. 11

**Author's note:** Just one story today. In between job interviews, being inspired to do art and feeling kinda drowsy this weekend that is all I can offer you. At least it's the longest so far.

**11. Moonlight**

On a full moon night the silver moonlight is strongest, and demon worshipers find that to be the best time for their rituals. It was such a night and following a lead brought Dante and Nero to an estate quite far from the city. A large Victorian house lay in the middle, completely surrounded by tall trees and various other plants, left to grow wild, presumably with the purpose of making life miserable for any intruders.

At least that's what the two demon hunters thought as they silently navigated through bushes, trying not to trip on roots and other stuff littering the dark ground below them.

Nero didn't seem to be very lucky at it, in one moment his leg got caught in a fallen branch and he found himself about to kiss the ground. Outstretching his arms in reflex he suddenly grabbed onto something and knocked it down in the process. This something was firm, warm and covered in... leather?

He looked up and saw the all too familiar blue eyes staring at him in confusion until lips stretched into a grin revealed perfect white teeth underneath, ones that Nero wished he wasn't seeing right now as he realized that he was lying on Dante with arms bound tightly around his waist.

"Geez kid, I know I'm irresistible, but that doesn't mean I want you on my ass."

Nero just groaned into Dante's back, he knew full well he'll be hearing about this for the rest of the week and was not looking forward to it the least bit.

He pulled himself up, untangled the evil branch from his foot and with a face as serious as possible, and he was thankful that the darkness hid the redness of it, continued to walk forward. His ears picked up a snicker coming from the older man, but he just ignored it. Now was time for their mission, there will be plenty of time to punch Dante in the face later.

Finally arriving at the house they were about to look for the best way in when some movement at the second story window caught Dante's attention.

In one fluid movement he climbed the tall tree and was now in level with the large window, observing the room inside.

The silver moonlight made his task easier, and it didn't take him long to see that this was a bedroom and it was at the moment occupied by a beautiful young woman. To Dante she seemed a bit too cute and too young to be doing business with demons, although you never know, it seemed more logical she was the virgin sacrifice. And he would be more than happy to help her with that problem... oh and the problem of being a sacrifice, too.

Oblivious to the presence of a stalker outside, the young female began to prepare for bed. Lifting her dark colored hair off the shoulders, she unclasped the necklace with a large pendant around her neck and laid it down on the dressing table. The long black dress was next, silky material sliding gently over her curves, revealing pale skin and lacy underwear. All this time Dante was observing her with interest, giving two thumbs up when he noticed she was wearing thongs with halters, giving a nice frame to her naked butt. When it was time to take off the underwear as well, he found himself leaning closer, oblivious to the cracking sound that grew louder. And just as the mysterious woman bent down to take off her panties, her naked behind high in the air, and Dante's blood rapidly concentrating in his groin, the cracking sound reached it's peak and the white-haired devil hunter suddenly lost view of the window as he and the branch he was standing on were now falling to the ground.

Down on the ground Nero was waiting for his older partner to finally show up. He could see the enemy approaching from the distance and was now nervously clutching his swords hilt.

A sound of something breaking made him look up, just in time to see something big and red approaching fast. Before he could react, he found himself on the ground, crying out in pain from the impact.

"Ow, dammit Dante, forget pizza, from now on you're eating nothing but carrots and celery sticks!"

Dante was at the moment lying on top of Nero, groaning in pain.

"Do I look like a rabbit to you?"

"No, but you weight like an elephant."

"It's called being buff, kid. Ladies dig it far more than that supermodel figure of yours. Besides, it's my sword that's heavy."

"Heavy sword? Well that's new, fat people usually blame it on heavy bones."

"Keep insulting me kid and I'll put you over my knees to show your butt how heavy my hand can be."

"Leave me out of your sex fantasies, you old perv, I... oh god, what is that?!" Just now did Nero's mind register that something hard was poking him in the thigh.

"Oh that... the lady up there gave me quite a show before cruel fate made me leave early."

"Get off of me!" Nero screamed, face burning in embarrassment.

Dante scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, pulling Nero up as well, not just because of the angry teens request, but also to prevent the two of them being turned into minced meat. While they were busy snapping at each other, enemy has approached too close and they were now surrounded by demons of various types, but all with one thought - kill the hunters.


	4. 12 to 14

**Authors note:** Took a bit longer, probably cause I ran into a problem of typing out a story and then not liking it anymore, so I had to start all over again.

But I have something to give you for reading. Hopefully it will be enough till I manage to figure out how to do the next theme, all depends how comfortable I'll be in describing something I'm not really familiar with.

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**12. Whisper**

When you have demon blood in you and don't shy away from walking among humans, you are faced with the fact that sometimes your sensitive ears pick up every whisper in the room you just walked into. And some you won't like one bit.

Dante just shrugged them off. No matter how much humanity evolves regarding equality and tolerance, there will always be whisper when they see someone different from them. If he cared about everything that people say about him and started slapping them around for it, he would find himself going from hero to villain real fast. And he could bet that at the end of that road, if he were still alive, would be Vergil, standing with his arms wide open and saying: "I told you so!"

Nero was different. He took everything to heart. Thankfully, he never thought about taking any hearts for it, being too nice and all, but all that hiding and being depressed was breaking the hearts of everyone around him. Especially Dante, who saw in that kid something like a little brother, or maybe even a son.

The only whisper he wanted the moping teen to care about was the one that passed his lips, telling him that everything will be alright, that he will always be there for him.

**13. Echo**

Deep in the caves everything echoes. His voice echoes, his heavy footsteps echo, even the sounds enemy makes echo, making it harder to determine their exact location.

This particular cave was a tourist attraction and made to be as safe and comfortable for regular, not much into exercising, people as possible. There was a marked path that continued into a railway when large spaces were interrupted by long passageways, and all along there were electric lights, some broken at the moment, but still enough that he didn't need to rely on his night vision for most part.

His job took him away from this luxury, from spacious caves decorated with breathtaking formations of stalactites and stalagmites, into the cold darkness, where every now and then a tourist would vanish never to be seen again.

From somewhere in the distance he could hear water dripping, not just one rhythmic sound, but many from different directions.

And then he saw them, red glowing eyes in the dark. Waiting for him, waiting to draw his blood and tear his flesh till there is nothing left of him but scattered bones.

Well he ain't going to give them that pleasure. His twin guns could also produce a rhythmic sound. One that echoed far away and was followed by screams of dying demons.

And then it was dark again. And once again the only thing breaking the silence was the sound of water dripping. Somewhere in the distance, the hunter in red continued his quest of bringing light where dark reigns.

**14. Jealousy**

No, he was not jealous. Okay, maybe a little bit.

He was looking forward to this night. Trish was back from another one of her travels and he managed to talk her into getting few drinks at the bar and catch up on what's happening in each others lives like two old friends.

But as soon as Dante let his blond partner out of sight to visit the bathroom, he swooped in like a hawk with the intention of stealing her away.

Upon returning Dante sincerely wished they just stayed at home, where there is plenty of alcohol and he is the only man around. But it was too late now, Trish quickly introduced him as her business partner and continued to happily flirt, even play with her hair, with this newcomer.

He was attractive, Dante had to admit, one of those that have a gym membership and actually use it. And apparently he has a good dentist, too, judging by his pearly white smile with no imperfection. Oh how happy would he be to give him an imperfection or two with his fist.

Wait, why was he jealous? Trish and him were never an item. As much as he loved her, the fact that she looked like his mother's long lost slutty twin would always stand between them.

But maybe that was the problem. A woman with his mother's face and an unknown man standing so close to her, making her smile, taking her attention away. Away from him.

Could he really be that childish, he asked himself, eyes fixated on the glass of whiskey in his hand.

Yes he could!

Jumping on his feet, he grabbed Trish by the arm and dragged her outside so fast her suitor didn't have time to figure out what was happening, let alone react.

"Let's go home, it's really stuffy in there." It was a poor excuse, but he was too upset to think of a better one.

For a moment Trish considered to fry his ass for being a possessive jerk, but then she noticed how jealousy made him look cute. And besides, revenge is a dish best served cold.


	5. 15 (revised)

**Author's note:** ** New version! If you read the last one, take note that while it may start the same, at one point it takes a whole new direction.**

I've revised this story cause the first version didn't sound well enough. I was looking forward to this theme and then did a terrible job writing it, so hopefully this new version flows better.

However, I must warn you... well, first I have to warn you - I wrote a sex scene. Second, I must warn you that it is a subject I am not quite familiar (or comfortable) with, so it's not very detailed and it sounds... kinda lame. Sorry if you expected something juicy. :|

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**15. Passion**

Most often Dante would spend his evenings sitting at his desk, drinking his boredom and other things away.

And then there were nights when staring at the bottom of his glass just wasn't enough and when the sound of the ceiling fan and the abused old jukebox could only be described as irritating.

On one of those nights he found his legs carrying him to a dance club to watch the sea of bodies sway to the sound of music, with the occasional couple giving themselves away to passion, encouraged by the combination of alcohol, loud music and the dim light of alternating colors.

He sat at the table in the corner, a whiskey bottle in front of him and a filled up glass in his hand.

To avoid unwanted attention he left his sword at home, deciding to rely solely on the twin guns hidden underneath his long red coat. He didn't come here looking for trouble, but you never know, places like these, where people let all reason fly out the window, easily attract beings of the malicious kind, the one he knew all too well and who knew him as well.

From the darkness his icy blue eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for something or someone to rest on. Such a predatory act, and yet all he wanted to do was to observe. He only ever approached working girls, less trouble and a lot cheaper, ordinary girls were like a piece of art, overpriced and best admired from afar.

And then he saw her, a white angel among the shadows, curvaceous body jumping and twisting in the rhythm of the music. Her thin, long fingers played with her shoulder long, dark hair, lifting it up and making it fall again, exposing her neck every so often. Underneath a pink, lacy camisole he could see a pair of nicely shaped breasts, not too big, but just the right size to bounce slightly as she moved. Licking his lips he fantasized about taking her to his room and how those breasts would bounce pretty as she is riding him on the bed, impaled on his... Get your act together, devil, this is not what you came for tonight.

And yet, why not? It's been a while since he had any. In fact, it's been so long he sometimes found himself fantasizing about his demon hunting partners, even Nero, which was what worried him the most cause it felt wrong for too many reasons. Not to mention he was afraid of waking up one morning with an angry Kyrie standing above him, knife in her hand. They say quiet ones are the most dangerous, and he didn't want to risk losing his balls for a night of forbidden fun.

Now, a threesome with Trish and Lady he wouldn't mind... except if he ever proposed that, he would risk losing his balls without getting any fun.

Chasing those thoughts out of his mind, he went back to observing the dancing woman from before. She looked quite young, despite the make-up that decorated her face and made her eyes appear like two emeralds on a dark background. Smokey eyes, he believed it was called, although it looked less smokey and more like a storm cloud. He never figured why women did that, tried too hard. All a beautiful woman needs is some red lipstick, to make her lips stand out like that one red rose in lover's hand.

It seems she noticed him staring. Her denim clad hips swayed from side to side as she walked closer. He could smell a mix of sweat and some strong perfume on her. When she sat down and started talking into his ear, trying all too hard to appear sexy, he could smell alcohol in her breath. Judging by the fact that she still had some control over herself, she was just tipsy and not drunk.

It turns out Rose, that was her name, had come to live to this town recently to be close to a very dear cousin, and since the said cousin had a lot of work all week, little Rose was bored out of her mind and came out to look for some fun.

A short talk, some mutual exploring and a couple of clumsy kisses later, he found himself following the naughty girl to her home.

It was a quick walk to one of many buildings that have seen better days. All the way there they were the only ones on the street, her giggles and clicking of her high heels echoing through the silent neighborhood.

The apartment was tiny and had only basic furniture, a typical abode of local working class that only ever used it to have a roof over their heads at night. The bedroom was a bit better when it came to decoration, even though what was meant by decoration were posters of cute animals and stuffed toys, complete with pink curtains and flower patterned bedspread. If he didn't know better, Dante could have sworn he just walked into a little girl's bedroom. Well, sometimes girls subconsciously refuse to grow up.

Kicking her shoes off to the corner of the room, she now barely reached up to his shoulders, so he had to lean a bit further down to kiss her on the lips. While their tongues played around, the taste of her strawberry flavored lip gloss mixing in, Rose's hands found their way under his coat. For a moment he thought about stopping her, afraid she might find his guns, but the hands traveled south to his buttocks and gave them a good squeeze, which felt so good he couldn't help but moan.

He broke the kiss and after waiting a moment to catch breath, spoke to her in a husky voice.

"Hey Rosey, how about doing me a favor? Take that make-up off, I want to see how you look without it..."

She hesitated for a moment, but it seems his naughty smirk won her over and she let go of him, before disappearing into the bathroom.

While she was away, he used the time to take his coat off and in lack of a better place lay it over a large panda, holsters holding his guns carefully hidden underneath. Throwing himself on the bed, he waited for his tonight's entertainment to come back.

And a moment later she did, face now free of its mask and so much more beautiful in his opinion. It appears that with the layers of face powder she also washed away some of her courage, but when he pulled her down on bed and showered her with kisses; they soon found themselves tearing each others clothes off like two wild cats.

It was her first time, and while she had plenty of desire, he still had to take control and lead her through it, playing with her like she was a doll. A doll whose heart beat incredibly fast.

He made her try out more positions, finally settling with sitting on the edge of the bed with her in his lap. He was right; her perky breasts were a nice sight as she bounced in his lap, treating his manhood to warm tightness that made his head light.

He didn't know how long they did it till they both climaxed one last time, it was still sometime in the night when they both fell exhausted to the bed and went to sleep curled up in each others arms.

The next morning it wasn't the golden sun rays that woke him up; it was the sound of front door being unlocked. Rose was still asleep by his side, snoring happily.

Judging by the sounds coming from the direction of the kitchen, he figured it must be the mysterious cousin bringing in some groceries. And for some reason there was a feeling of familiarity that wouldn't go away...

The explanation for that soon came once the footsteps came closer and a very familiar voice reached his ears.

"Hey Rose, wake up you sleepy head, I bought you breakfast!"

Bi-colored eyes widened in surprise once they noticed a very shocked and very naked man Lady knew all too well, lying next to her sleeping and equally naked cousin.

"Son of a bitch! I'll fucking kill you!" She screamed, drawing a gun.

Rose woke up suddenly, frightened eyes traveling back and forth from her pissed of cousin to Dante, now on his feet and with a pillow covering his crotch. He didn't cover himself out of modesty, more to offer some kind of a protection to his family jewels, he might had demon powers but he wasn't sure if he could grow these things back.

"Whoa, babe, relax! Let me explain first before you start putting bullet holes in me."

At this point Lady looked so mad, you could almost see steam coming out of her ears.

"I knew I should have never let you get your own apartment, especially not in this neighborhood where old perverts like him prey on girls that are young enough to be their daughters." She didn't need that gun, Dante felt enough stings from her look alone.

"First, she came onto me, not the other way around. Second, I'm only thirty-two, making the age difference not quite so large if she was truthful about being eighteen. Third, I had no idea she was off limits since you never introduced us. And fourth, put that gun down so I can finally get dressed!"

"I never introduced you two because I was worried you'll take her to bed. Never figured fate would be this much of a bitch!"

"Umm... you two know each other?" Rose finally spoke.

"Sadly, yes!" Both of them replied simultaneously, before continuing their shouting match. The neighbors were treated to some rather juicy stuff for the rest of the morning until things finally settled down. What happened after that? Well, that's a story for some other time. One thing's for sure, from now on Dante will be extra picky about who he follows home.


	6. 16 & 17

**Author's notes: **Managed to write two more, it's getting harder to come up with something good. At least these two are more on the humorous side.

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**16. Lies**

Dante hardly ever bothered to tell lies. To him keeping made up facts in check seemed like leaving your clothes on the floor - you have to walk carefully or your legs might get caught and you fall face first to the floor.

Most of the time he would let his mouth run freely, earning himself a good number of glares, slaps and even bullet holes, although after a while his friends just deemed violent reactions a waste of energy.

But that doesn't mean he never lied. In fact when he put an effort he could be quite good at it, keeping a straight face while telling complete bullshit. Would have made a great career in politics if he didn't find it so disgusting.

However, sometimes he had trouble recognizing when it would be good to lie.

On one of those days Lady found herself in his office, standing in front of his desk and explaining the details of a mission to a not very interested Dante trying to doze off on the chair. He did agree to it in the end, like he always does, but as she was about to walk away, she suddenly turned to him and in a rare moment of acting like a typical worried woman asked him something unusual.

"Is my butt too big for me to be walking around in these shorts?"

There was a moment of silence when Dante went through the question in his mind, trying to figure out if he heard it right. They were friends for a long time now, but he never thought she would be that comfortable around him. Trish would be more suitable, but she was out of town, leaving only Dante as the next best thing.

And his answer would be forever known as the worst possible in the given situation.

"Don't worry, your butt looks just right in those shorts. In fact, I keep wanting to slap it ever since you walked in."

After the last words left his lips, he realized he went a bit too far, and prepared himself to feel a bullet pierce his skull. But the bullet never came.

Instead, what he felt was Kalina Ann slamming down real hard on his head, cracking his skull in the process and nearly making him bite his obviously too long tongue off.

As he lay his bloodied head on the desk and through the storm that was raging in his brain listened to Lady's angry footsteps leaving his office, a conclusion was reached - when women and their bodies are involved, or at least women that can give him a concussion with ease, keeping his mouth in check was a necessity.

**17. Regrets**

When you are not making a lot of money you have to make some compromises when looking for a place to live.

Compromises in this case include a shady neighborhood, lack of space in the apartment, weird noises at night, murky water coming from the ancient pipes, in other words the usual problems coming with cheap rental.

However, what troubled the poor guy named John the most was his neighbor. The building where John's apartment was and the place that guy owned were set up next to each other in an L-shape, which meant that John's windows were awfully close to the other building. In fact, he could even see inside if he tried. And he would only try if the busty, blond vixen was at the place. He was too straight to take interest in men, even if he had to admit the man in question was attractive and looked more than a little unusual with white hair and red leather attire.

Most of the time the place was quiet, unless the guy got his jukebox working, then the rock music was played so loud it could very easily wake the dead. Which made the disgruntled neighbor wonder briefly if that's the reason why he saw so many weapons displayed on the wall behind the desk, where the white-haired guy could easily reach them in case zombies came to make sure the volume gets taken down.

Sometimes John could see a raven-haired woman march inside and spend a lot of time arguing with the guy, asking for her money. Since they sounded pretty much like an old couple, he figured she must be an ex-wife, angry that the alimony isn't being paid on time. And thanks to her he found out that his neighbors name is Dante.

And to an outsider it was really difficult to figure out what exactly is this Dante doing for a living.

When he went out, he would carry a guitar case on his back, so John thought he was a musician. Except he never saw him play anywhere, not even on the street to earn a bit of money.

He could have been a gun for hire, would have explained the nice collection of weapons, but they work in secret and don't have big, red neon signs telling everyone where they can find them. Besides, Dante's weapons were mostly swords and other funky stuff, indicating that it's just a collection for display. He can't seriously be fighting anyone with that, not in this day and age!

On the subject of the big, red neon sign above the door, John had to admit that was his biggest problem. The sign was on for whole night, illuminating his apartment through thin curtains and painting his bedroom walls with bloody red. He seriously sometimes felt like he was in a horror movie. And what exactly does "Devil May Cry" mean?

While he didn't know why the devil would cry, he knew that he was on the verge of crying after lying awake on his bed yet another night.

He could have marched there and demanded that the sign is shut off, but his mind drifted back to the weapon collection and how he did not want his life to end so soon.

His nerves were letting go, and it was a matter of time before he did something crazy. And in this state of mind he remembered the rock collection he had since he was a kid. His prized possession seemed fit to become the tool of his vengeance.

He found the box and brought it to the window. Opening it, he pulled out the first rock with a crazy gleam in his eyes. Stepping out on the fire escape he calculated how much strength will he need to hit the sign. Then he took a deep breath and threw the rock.

There was a sharp sound heard as the heavy object collided with the neon sign, but the damage was minimal. So the angry man took out more rocks and kept throwing them at his target. Sparks flew, letters were extinguished and finally something started moving in the darkness of the office, prompting John to take a dive to the safety of his apartment, just in time to be avoided by the eyes of a very pissed off Dante.

With messy hair and wearing nothing but pants pulled on in haste, judging by the fact that they weren't completely buttoned up, he waved his large gun in the direction of the neighboring building and yelled curses, some of which John was sure you could go to Hell just for hearing them. Oh he was so regretting his actions right now!

From the open doorway a teen emerged, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked a lot like Dante, even had the same white hair. Could have been Dante's son, although the possible ex-wife did not look old enough to have a son this big. But then again she could have been a second or even third wife, the guy does look like the type to be constantly in and out of marriages.

Looking back at the "son", John noticed something weird about his right arm and he swore that was the most awesome body mod he had ever seen and wondered where the kid got it, or how it was made in the first place. His fingers glowed for crying out loud!

With the older man now slightly cooled off, just enough to stop yelling like a madman, the two of them were observing the destroyed sign. The younger one, standing behind was grinning from ear to ear, but quickly pulled a serious face when Dante turned towards him, earning himself a suspicious look from the older man.

That night John didn't get any sleep, despite his room being dark for the first time.

The next morning Dante was standing in front of his building, watching his younger partner take off what's left of the sign all by himself as punishment for his behavior last night. Like he didn't see that huge grin on kid's face!

The more he looked at his precious sign, the more he noticed how beaten up it was, and he swore that if he ever found out who was the culprit, he will make him or her regret it.

Then he felt someone observing him. Turning around he saw something moving at the corner of the other building, before hearing hurried footsteps disappearing in the distance.

That very same day, the apartment overlooking Dante's building became vacant once more, the last tenant moving out in haste.


	7. 18 & 19

**Author's** **notes: **Two stories for you. First one is on the serious side, the other one is humorous. Also, in case you missed it, theme 15 (Passion) got replaced with a version that hopefully sucks less.

**18. Trust**

Pain. Pain and enormous fear was all she could feel. But she had to keep on running, send all her remaining strength into her tired, aching legs and hope that somewhere in the labyrinth of dark streets there is someone who can help her.

She had no shoes on, lost them on the way. High heels were meant for gracious walking, not running. Still, she wished she still had them on, the pavement was definitely not nice to her bare feet, and for some time her path had become marked with bloody footprints.

And then a horrible thing happened. She ran into a dead end. No path ahead, just darkness and a cold, brick wall. And behind her the beasts were getting closer, and they were hungry, so hungry.

Even though she knew it was futile, she still attempted to hide from them behind the dumpster. But the growls were getting louder and louder, and her nerves couldn't take it anymore. Tears ran down her cheeks and between her legs a warm puddle was spreading fast. She remained as silent as she could. And waited for them to strike.

But they never did. Through the hum in her ears it was as she could hear gunshots, and dying screams of something inhuman. It continued for a while and then it became silent.

Footsteps. She could hear heavy footsteps. But not from her assailants, these were entirely different, belonging to a human. And then they stopped in front of her.

Slowly, she cracked her eyes open and saw a figure of a white-haired man dressed in red. His blue eyes looked softly at her and he appeared to be saying something, but all her hazy mind could register were two words. Trust me.

Could she? Could she really trust this man? She doesn't know him, what his attentions are, but he did rid her of those monsters, so he must be on her side.

Hesitating, she put her hand into his outstretched one and let him raise her to her feet. But the adrenaline was slowly wearing off and her legs gave in, sending her back to the ground. Two strong arms caught her in the last moment and soon she found herself being carried away from the dark alley. Pressed against his warm chest, she felt like a little girl again and let the unconsciousness take over.

**19. Revenge**

For a while Nero has been thinking about revenge. Doing something, anything that will make him get even at the old man for all the teasing and embarrassment he put him through from the day the young slayer moved in.

By now he knew there was really no helping and that's just normal behavior for Dante, but he still wanted a little bit of satisfaction.

Get rid of all his liquor? He'll just go to the bar.

Secretly call all local pizza places to ask that they always put olives on his pizza? Too much work and he could just pick them out. Like he always does when his request gets ignored, which is 99% of the time.

Put itching powder in his underwear? Too childish. And he ain't even sure if Dante wears any underwear. And he definitely doesn't want to investigate that. Just imagine getting caught, the old bastard would never let him forget.

The troubled teen sighed heavily and rolled onto his stomach. Dante was out on a mission with Lady, leaving his younger partner to slowly die of boredom on the couch. And then it was like a light went on above Nero's head, and his face expression changed from the bored one to that of a mischievous cat. He jumped from the couch, ran upstairs to get his jacket and wallet, before running out. He was not sure how long will Dante be out, so if he wanted to put his plan in action he had to be fast.

About two hours later, the red-clad demon hunter walked tiredly into his office, his heavy footsteps echoing through the large room. His eyes fell on Nero, who was once again on the couch, watching some soap opera on the old TV.

"Soap opera, really? If you had a box of tissues and some bonbons, I would honestly start wondering when did we get married."

Nero just gave him an angry glare. It was obvious the older man was cranky, not just because he was tired from the job. When Lady was involved it would always end up the same - his wallet would get thoroughly cleaned, much to his dismay.

"Well, have fun, I'm gonna take a shower." With that he disappeared into the bathroom.

Nero waited for a few moments until he heard water running and the shower curtain being pulled, before sneaking in. He slowly picked the discarded clothes from the floor and was about to make his way out when the sound of Dante's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?" His head was peaking from behind the curtain, wet hair sticking to his face.

"Well... um... I saw how tired you were and thought I could make myself helpful and wash your clothes for you." Nero was impressed with himself for thinking of an excuse so fast.

"You really are becoming a housewife... So what's for dinner, honey?"

It took Nero all of his strength to keep himself from wiping that smirk off of Dante's face with his fist.

"You've got beer in the fridge and there is some pizza left from last night."

"Aw, could you be a darling and order a new one? I'll pay you back once I get a job that doesn't involve you-know-who."

"Sure. With extra olives, right?"

"... Not funny, kid."

20 minutes later Dante stepped out of the bathroom, all freshened up and with only a towel wrapped around his hips. Nero was nowhere in sight, probably still in the laundry room, getting all the dirt and other stuff out of his clothes, and there was a lot to wash out. Good thing it was all leather, had it been any other material, there would probably be no other choice but to burn it.

He slowly made his way upstairs to his bedroom. Since he was not in the mood to prance around in nothing but a towel, finding clothes to wear was a priority. Except when he opened the closet doors, there was nothing but an empty space. Correction, there was something inside. The frilliest dress he ever saw. And it was red.

He blinked few times, thinking he was seeing things, that his tired mind was just playing games on him, but each time the image was the same, empty closet and that red dress. And he knew exactly who was responsible for this...

"Nero!" Dante's voice boomed through the house, startling both Nero and the pizza delivery guy, who in a split of a second grabbed his money and ran for dear life.

Nero just casually walked to the desk and placed the box with steaming pizza on it, trying his hardest to ignore the fact that Dante just stomped into the office, seriously pissed off and still wearing nothing but a towel.

"Okay, spit it out brat! Where are my clothes?!"

"Uh... in your hand?" He pointed at the red dress Dante was clutching in his hand. Nero was particularly proud of how he managed to find just the perfect thing in such short notice. Of course, it was mostly thanks to the very helpful sales ladies who bought his sob story about a sister who had the misfortune to be tall and have broad shoulders, but who just wants to feel pretty for once in her life. The price was a bit high, but one look at Dante's face right now and he knew it was totally worth it.

"Let me rephrase that... The clothes you found in my closet; shirts, pants, coats... Where are they!" The last part was shouted so loud, Nero thought he will go deaf. But there was no way he will tell him where he stashed all of his stuff, let the old man find them himself.

He started to back away slowly from his fuming partner, before answering him with a mocking voice.

"Your clothes are safe, but you ain't gonna get them. You'll just have to wear that dress. Should make your missions easier, one look at you and demons will die laughing."

Nero would have laughed now, but he found himself being too busy running from Dante, going around desk, jumping over couches, anything to keep the distance. Truth be told, that task was made easier thanks to the fact that even for Dante it was hard to run when you have to keep a towel in place.

But luck was on Dante's side tonight, which Nero painfully found out when he kissed the floor, and soon had a heavy, naked man sitting on his back.

Both his arms were pinned between them, Dante now leaning down close to his ear.

"Start talking Nero, or it will be you wearing that dress. Would have suit you better, anyway." A husky voice spoke to him, as the warm breath tickled his ear.

"Not... talking..." The boy has not yet lost his courage, although it began slipping away slowly as the older man shifted, expressing his intention to really fulfill his threat.

Except he never got the chance for that, when an appearance of another person stopped him in his tracks.

"Really Dante, these days you will jump just about anything with a pretty face." Trish's voice caught attention of both males. The younger one happy that he was saved for now, the older one groaning in despair, cause this was just not his day.


	8. 20

**Author's note:** Tied to "Passion". Yes, Rose makes a return, although this time it ends in a serious tone. And no one gets naked.

* * *

**20. Confessions**

"So this is where he lives?"

Sitting behind his desk in his usual relaxed position, magazine in hand, Dante raised an eyebrow at the sound of the familiar female voice from the other side of the door. When he heard another female voice, also familiar, Dante knew it was a sign of an impending doom and wondered if he still had time to sneak out the back.

Front door flew open and Lady walked in, dragging her cousin with her. The girl, dressed in a light yellow summer dress, was currently busy looking up, presumably at the big sign above the door.

"It's nice looking, but I can't help to think that he nicked it off some strip club..."

He chuckled at that.

"Well, we don't do that kind of business here, but if you're real nice I could make an exception for you."

"Don't encourage her. Besides, don't you think you've done enough damage for now?" Lady's voice sounded bitter. Rose was her little cousin, the last of her family that she actually liked and she considered her an innocent angel that needed protection. Until that image got replaced by the one of devious little devil that takes strangers home to have some fun. And just like the last time she had to deal with a family member gone bad, although thankfully this time it has just gone _wild_, the man in red was somehow connected to it.

"My dear Lady, you know that when I do damage, it is very much noticeable. And as far as I can see little Rosie here is feeling just fine."

Rose stopped exploring the office for a moment to give them a big, bright smile, trying to show her overprotective cousin that everything is indeed okay.

Lady just sighed, before turning back to Dante to give him an angry glare, indicating that he is not yet off the hook. Dante just shrugged and leaned back into chair. He was not very pleased that not only does he own her money, but now he apparently owns her Rose's innocence, too.

"So what can I do for you?" he asked the older woman, while observing the younger one, who was currently having fun kicking scattered empty bottles so they would roll closer to the overflowing trash can in the corner.

"Given that Rose insists on going out at night… and as much as I would like it, I can't exactly keep her tied up to her bed..." It wasn't until she saw the wide grin on Dante's face that she realized what she just said. "Ugh, get your mind out of the gutter, you moron!"

"If you knew what I was thinking, then your mind is right next to mine in that gutter. Fancy a threesome, babe?" He winked at her. It was quite possible he felt slightly suicidal in that moment, considering what the woman was capable of, but she just continued talking with a noticeable twitch in her eye.

"What I was trying to say... since Rose is not familiar with the things that lurk at night, I think the time has come to confess what I do... what _we_ do for a living."

"Ugh, I hate these kinds of conversations..." Dante groaned, rolling his eyes. By that time Rose had already came closer, curious as to what they have to say.

"Rose..." Lady rounded the desk and was now standing beside Dante. "... I am a demon hunter."

Rose stared at her for a moment. "What the hell is a demon hunter?! I was pretty sure you were going to say you are a prostitute! Or is that just another name for it?"

Time seemed to slow down as the two hunters just stared at the young woman, eyes large and mouth hanging open. First one to break the silence was Dante, his loud laughter echoing through the office.

Finally getting the control over her jaw back, Lady spoke slowly. "What do you mean you thought I am a prostitute? What ever gave you that idea?!"

Biting her bottom lip, after realizing she should have kept her mouth closed, Rose tried to explain herself.

"You always walk around in very revealing outfits and spend your nights patrolling the streets in shady looking neighborhoods. And then there are those mysterious calls from men you simply call clients... Tell me, what was I supposed to think?"

It made sense, Lady had to admit. As for Dante, by now his eyes were filled with tears from laughing too much. This proved to be not such a bad conversation after all.

"You heard of demons, right? From old legends and myths... "Lady spoke in a calmer tone.

Rose nodded. You had to be living under a rock not to ever hear of the evil creatures referred to as demons.

"What if I told you that they are real, that they are walking among us, preying on us?"

"I would call you crazy... like mom does..."

"Guess I'll just have to get to the point..." Lady pulled out her gun and shot Dante in the head, sending him to the floor, blood splattering on her white shirt.

"Oh my God!" Rose screamed, convinced that her cousin is genuinely insane and she is next. "What did you do that for?! He did nothing wrong!"

"Look at him Rose..."

"You're sick... oh God, mom was right..."

"Look at him!" Lady demanded more fiercely, but Rose was too scared. She might act brave in a normal situation, but there was a man with a large hole in his head lying on the floor behind the desk and just thinking about it made her stomach turn.

And then a gloved hand griped the edge of the desk, and Dante slowly lifted himself up, his white hair stained with blood.

"It's okay, Rosie... this ain't the first time your cousin made a draft in my head." He glared at Lady. "Guess she thinks it helps if it gets ventilated every now and then."

"But how...?" Rose was trying to hold back her tears, but they just kept flowing.

"Dad was a devil, making me a half-breed. With it came all sorts of amazing powers, but I also had to pay a great price." He looked at the photo of his mother on the desk, before his mind called upon a memory of the one whose face he saw every morning in the mirror, and just there, no matter how much he wished differently.

Unfortunately, Lady's method of explaining proved to be a bit too much for Rose. And who could blame her, a man gets shot in the head and then gets up like nothing happened, babbling something about being a son of a devil. Choking in tears, she began to back away, her instinct telling her to run. Lady moved to stop her, but Rose was too fast and was soon out the door, running down the street. It didn't matter to her where she will end up; she just had to get away.

Dante sighed. "And this is why I hate these kinds of conversations!"

"We need to stop her..." was all Lady muttered before running out the door herself, leaving Dante alone in the office.

"Tch, women..." He grabbed his guns and sword and went to join the chase.

Outside it was getting dark and the streets had become vacant, save for the glowing eyes seen in the darkest corners, some accompanied by the sound of meowing, while others just stared at you in silence.

In the distance, straight ahead, Dante could see Lady running, calling out her cousin's name. He couldn't see Rose anywhere, so with few precise jumps he climbed the neighboring building and decided to search from above.

After few minutes and lots of running and jumping, he almost caught up with Lady, but the younger girl was still nowhere to be seen. He became worried that maybe they went in the wrong direction and she made a turn somewhere instead of going straight.

The full moon was high on the sky, illuminating the dark city.

Dante was about to continue his search, when something in the dark alley below caught his attention.

Going down, he could feel demonic presence and a familiar scent he wished he hadn't felt right now. Rose was somewhere in that alley, surrounded by a pack of dog demons.

Those ugly things were no real match for him, and even before his feet touched the ground, a rain of bullets hit the demons, their painful howls echoing through the night before it all went silent again.

His blue eyes carefully scanned the darkness, searching for the girl. He found her hiding in the corner, crying and shivering.

"Hey Rosie, it's okay now, the bad things are gone, I took care of them." He crouched in front of her and put a hand on her head, gently stroking her hair. On quick inspection he was relieved to find no serious injuries, just a few scraps and bruises.

"Let's go home, Rosie..." Behind him he could hear footsteps. Turning slightly he saw that it was Lady, attracted by the sound of gunshots from a moment ago. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short by two arms suddenly wrapping themselves around his neck and a sobbing girl pressing against his chest. He picked her up gently and carried her out of the alley. Passing by Lady, he stopped and spoke to her.

"You can stay at my place tonight; tomorrow you can start working on fixing the damage." He wasn't really mad at her, from the look in her eyes he knew she was aware how badly she screwed up. Honestly, he would have screwed it up as well, it's hard to prove people that demons exist, and they have to see them to finally believe. And Rose believes now. Time will tell if she could handle that.


	9. 21

**Author's notes: **Fresh off the press. And still in time for Valentine's. Btw, sorry if I didn't thank you for the review. It's a pathetic excuse, but with my head being in the clouds I sometimes forget to do things.

* * *

**21. Chocolate**

While most of the time he just received cash for his services, Dante certainly didn't mind when clients threw in some small gift as a token of appreciation. He sometimes did mind if a female client offered herself as a gift; a beauty he would not turn down, but some of these ladies in his opinion were of a dire need of a better mirror. And a trip to the vet to get declawed.

On his last job he was quite surprised to get a large, heavy box filled with something that was supposedly going to sweeten up his day.

And right now Nero and him were standing by the desk and curiously peeking into the box that was filled to the top with chocolate and candy in colorful wrapping. While Nero, growing up in a religious community that didn't look approvingly at earthly delights, was definitely not an expert in sweets, this time even Dante had to admit most of the stuff in the box was unknown to him. He took out some kind of a candy bar with a picture of a banana on the wrapping. On the outside it looked like a smaller banana coated in chocolate, and the moment his teeth sank in, his tongue was introduced to a sweet taste of yellow, banana flavored foam.

"What you lookin' at, kid?" he asked Nero, who was staring at him intently.

"I'm waiting to see your reaction. You know, in case it's poisonous…"

"I ain't your guinea pig!" He tossed the younger man a bag of something with a cartoon snake on the front. "Try this! It looks like something a brat like you might appreciate."

For few moments Nero just eyed the package suspiciously, then decided to tear the package open and see what's inside. The long fingers of his devil arm pulled out something that looked like a bi-colored gummy snake. Putting it in his mouth, he happily concluded that it tasted fruity and was fun to chew on.

"Have fun trying out the rest, old man, this one's all mine!" He put another snake in his mouth and abandoned the area around the desk to watch TV from the couch with the bag of his new favorite thing held tightly in his hand.

Dante just looked at him, smirking at the fact that as much as Nero hated being called a kid, there were moments when he really looked like one.

Rummaging through the rest of the contents, he found a selection of chocolates, all wrapped in red and with a peculiar brand name. One picture caught his eye and he pulled out a chocolate that promised him a sensual taste of strawberry and cream. This one was for later, he decided, and soon the chocolate was well hidden in a desk drawer. Then he pulled out three boxes of chocolates. The brown one was placed back and he was about to return the light blue one, choosing the third one, which was black with a red tree on it, a fine choice of colors he mused. That is until he changed his mind and went for the blue box. Call it intuition, but something just told him he must try that one first.

Opening the box he sat on the couch, opposite from Nero, who was leaning on the arm rest with his feet up. There was some wildlife documentary on TV, not that particularly interesting, but still better than some other choices that evening.

Taking one of the chocolates from the box, he unwrapped the paper of the same blue color as the box and for few moments just looked at the chocolaty cube in his hand. And then he took a bite.

The moment his teeth broke through the hard chocolate coating, he knew this was the right choice. His tongue slid across the white filling, sweetness mixing with a cooling feeling, most probably caused by mint flavoring added to the mixture. He wished it had some strawberry in it, then it would be like a strawberry sundae that you can put into your pocket and eat whenever you feel like it. Now he knew why the box was ice blue, this was supposed to remind people of ice cubes and he couldn't help to think that _that person_ would definitely liked this. It was so much like him, after all.

He took another one out of the box and sucked lightly on it, letting the chocolate melt on his lips, before biting the top off. Dipping his tongue as deep into the white as it would go, he let the mint do it's job and take the heat away. He seem to have gotten lost in his thoughts, completely losing track of what was happening around him, until the sound of Nero's voice snapped him back.

"Oh God, now you're molesting chocolate…"

He looked to his left to see Nero staring at him, one eyebrow all the way up and a gummy snake hanging out of his mouth.

"I swear, old man, you never cease to amaze me. When you started moaning…" Dante's eyes went wide, he didn't even register he was making any sounds. "… I thought you were jerking off. Except I didn't know whether to those ducks on TV or my ass. Honestly, for a moment I prayed it was the ducks."

Dante licked his lips clean and prepared himself for retribution.

"But kid, I thought you would like the idea of big daddy being into you… with the way you've been eating those snakes one might think you were just dying to open your mouth for a big one with a creamy, white filling." And he just had to end that statement with a naughty smirk and a wink.

It took Nero couple of seconds to fully process what the older male implied. Releasing a battle cry, he was more than ready to shower the mocking pervert with punches.

Dante was more than ready for what's to come. Nothing feels better on Valentine's day than a good brawl.


	10. 22

**Author's note:** *scratches head* I don't know if what I wrote is good, this kind of scenes can be quite hard. Oh well, at least I got something out...

* * *

**22. Midnight**

**(follows after Confessions)**

She screwed up. She screwed up big time.

That thought choked her more and more with each new step she took, with each glance directed at the shivering form in Dante's arms, at her tear stained face resting on his shoulder and the small hands clutching his coat so tight knuckles turned white.

It was already midnight by the time they got Rose into bed. Prying her away from Dante proved to be a difficult task, he actually had to hold Rose in his lap while Lady took care of the scraps on her knees.

But she was asleep now in his bed, wearing one of his large t-shirts and clutching his coat like a security blanket. He was not the least bit happy with that, but she wouldn't go to sleep without it, obviously associating the smell and feeling of leather with safety. Well, she could have it for one night, tomorrow he'll get it back, even if he had to fight her for it. Leather coats like the ones he wore are everything but cheap, after all.

The only thing illuminating the office was the pale moonlight. Lady was sprawled out on the couch, trying to fall asleep. An impossible task, as she soon realized, her mind being in full motion, questioning what should be done next. She turned and looked at the silent figure sitting at his desk. Even though his eyes were obscured by white bangs, she knew he couldn't sleep either. Considering how much that man liked to lose himself in dream land, this was truly a troubling thing.

She got up and slowly walked to the desk, sitting on it so that she was facing her quiet friend.

For what seemed like eternity they just sat there, the atmosphere between them so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Why did you shoot me?" Dante's voice was practically a whisper, but still enough to bring Lady out of her thoughts.

"What?" She had to confirm she heard it right.

"I asked... Why did you shoot me in the head?" This time it was a bit louder and Lady was left with her mouth hanging slightly open, struggling for an answer.

She tried several times to dive into the mess that were her thoughts right now and pull something coherent out of it.

"Because I was angry at you." She finally formed some kind of a response.

"Angry at me? For what, cause I laughed at her wrong assumption of what you do for a living? At most that would warrant a good smack on the back of my head, not a bullet!"

"It wasn't just because of that!" She almost yelled out, but still kept it down cause of the sleeping girl upstairs. "Do you even realize what Rose means to me? You know what happened to my parents, my father in particular... but to my mother's family he was always a sweet man that treated everyone with respect and died tragically in a devastating earthquake so soon after becoming a widower. No wonder they never believed me that he was rotten to the core and that mom's death was his doing. They all called me crazy and distanced themselves from me, which was maybe for the best considering my job..."

Lady's head slumped and in the corners of her eyes tears began to form. "All except for Rose... Little wild child who sees good in everyone, runs barefoot across meadows and gives flowers to strangers to make them smile... she might have not believed me, but she believed _in me_ and always greeted me with open arms. When she said she wanted to move here I was happy and scared at the same time. My little angel was going to live close... but all of a sudden all the things that made her became the source of worry for me. A nice girl in a neighborhood that is everything but nice, I kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. And then came the cold shower in form of your naked body in her bed... I guess even angels have to grow up and do some... not very angelic things... but the last person I expected for her to take home was you... although, considering who or _what_ she might have met maybe you were not such a bad choice." She smirked at that. "But you belong to a dark world, Dante... dark and full of pain... and I did not want her to get pulled into it. Not her, not my little Rosie... but that's exactly what had happened in the end and there was that part of me who was so strongly convinced that you are to blame, when in reality it was me who was at fault."

She looked at him. "What do you say, old friend, will you forgive this foolish woman?"

Dante was silent for a few moments. And the he lifted his arm and pulled Lady into a tight embrace.

"How could I not forgive you, you mother hen!" She yelped when he slapped her on the butt. "But keep in mind that you owe me a huge strawberry sundae with extra berries."


	11. 23 & 24

**Author's note:** Dammit, you blue clad ice cube, why is it that when I choose to deal with you it turns out so damn depressing? You couldn't have dragged your big butt back to the land of living and treat us to a happy reunion in DMC4, could you?

* * *

**23. Rain**

It's raining again. It's always raining when we meet each other. I can feel the cold drops of water hitting my skin and sliding down my cheeks from my white hair that has once more fallen down. It's amazing how that one little detail can make a difference, for in this moment we are truly like a mirror image, two halves of what once was whole.

My clothes is wet, I can feel the heat leaving my body, until my eyes see you coming towards me, a walking fire and not just because of the colour of your coat. You are like a spark, my dear brother, and from the inside I burn once more.

I sometimes think the rain is her tears. Her soul residing in heavens above, watching with horror how her precious children draw each others blood. Or should that be their own blood, we are twins after all, I am you and you are me.

Maybe she is trying to bring down the heat, with those cold tears of hers. Futile attempt, I would have told her, human will may be strong, but demon blood is stronger, especially when the feeling of cold steel brings it to boil.

Our swords clash, maybe even for the last time, maybe only one will walk away, the other stay laying on the ground.

Forgive me mother, I wish to scream at the sky. Forgive me...

**24. Alone**

It's been so long since one got separated into two. And yet we were not alone, Vergil... Not until that night.

Where are you now, brother? Is your soul finally at peace?

I miss your touches, even though you sometimes could be a bit rough. I miss how you wiped my tears away and hugged me at night.

Little boys became men, and wooden swords turned to steel. Still I wonder could it have ended differently, could we have fought side by side? I guess I'll never know, you chose your path and I chose mine, they crossed so many times until just one kept walking. And the other... Let's no longer think about that.

This cheap whiskey I'm drinking is burning my tongue. I still consider it the best companion when I'm alone in the office, amber color of the sunset making path for the dark.

I hear footsteps outside, which is strange cause the streets are empty at this time. And then the front door slowly opens, and I get ready to send whoever it is back, until I notice a familiar figure and an even more familiar glow on his right arm.

"I... I'm sorry for getting here so late, your place was kinda hard to find..." He looks like this situation makes him very uncomfortable, can't blame him, it must have taken a lot of courage to leave his home and come look for the guy that saved his ass.

"So I was thinking, since the situation in Fortuna is under control... maybe I could come work for you? Maybe even have you teach me new stuff?" Oh he was so adorable when he would scratch his nose like that.

I don't think it was even a whole second between me jumping on my feet and my arms hugging that boy tight.

"Ugh, your breath... oh wow, you're drunk!" He panicked a bit, but remained in my embrace. "Whatever old man, just don't grope me..."

"Oh shut up, kid, and let me have my moment..."

Vergil, where ever you are, know that no one will replace you in my heart. But it feels so good to not be alone anymore, to have someone so much like me by my side. No one will replace you, I'll just let one more person in. Good thing my heart is big enough.


	12. 25

**Author's note:** 25th story! One quarter of my list done! And all I can say is - baby, yeah! XD

Oh and Rose makes a return, but I promise you'll hardly notice her being there.

* * *

**25. Beach**

On beautiful sunny days even the most hardcore demon hunters like to pretend they are just normal people and visit the beach. Granted, some extra persuasion was required to get the certain half-devil out of his bed in the wee hours of the morning, although Nero happily offered to simply toss him out the door.

Speaking of Nero, he was currently fidgeting nervously, alternating between scratching his nose and pulling on his red hoodie, while Rose examined curiously his demonic arm, tracing the rips in hard, red shell with her finger.

"So this thing allows you to fetch items that are far away as well? I know quite a number of lazy people who would love to have that… myself included…"

"I know one lazy bastard that would never get off his butt if he had that ability…" Nero looked meaningfully in the direction of Dante's bedroom, where the said man was taking his sweet time getting his stuff, despite Lady tapping her foot furiously and looking at her watch.

"You two go wait outside." She spoke to the two teens. "I'll make sure we leave soon, even if I had to shoot a missile up that big oaf's ass."

"Ooh, kinky… not really my style, but if it turns you on…" The comment came from the big oaf himself, as he descended down the stairs buttoning up his red shirt, although leaving top buttons undone. Despite dressing more lightly than usual, he still stayed true to his red and black color scheme, complimenting the bloody red of his shirt with black jeans and black sneakers. The only thing leather on him this time was his black backpack hanging on his shoulder.

"So, the pretty princess finally done putting on make-up?" Nero couldn't help but tease the elder, grinning madly at the death glare Dante was giving him.

"Don't worry, I used up very little of your stash." Add Dante's famous smirk to that comeback and if Lady hadn't interfered it would sooner or later lead to a fight.

"Nero out! Dante, get the rest of your stuff and get going, cause if I don't get to see the beach before this week is over there will be hell to pay! Or better yet - rent to pay, as that beach house did not come for free."

They all knew the fuming dragon meant serious, so both teens ran out, while Dante quickly grabbed his guns and followed behind.

Outside, despite the sun just getting to it's usual place high in the sky, it was already quite hot. Summer was indeed in full swing and Nero was looking forward to feeling the wind in his hair and to hear this beast of a bike roar. If only it was his bike, and not one that Dante borrowed him, which the elder reminded him a second later.

"Hey kid, keep in mind, one little scratch on my baby and your ass is mine!" He yelled from the driver seat of his cherry red convertible, getting an eye-roll as response.

Dante didn't like the idea of Nero riding his bike, in his opinion little firecracker didn't look reliable enough. But when they put all their luggage in the car, including the two large swords on the back seat, there was just enough room for one passenger and that had to be Rose, who after one ride with her cousin decided she will not repeat that experience until the matter of last will was taken care of. And since neither Nero or Lady were too thrilled of riding together, there was no other choice for Dante but to trust the kid and with teary eyes lend him his bike. Well, it was either that or tie him up with chains and drag him behind… maybe even add some cans and a "Just married" sign for a joke, except he was pretty sure no one would find it as funny as he does.

The place they were going to was a bit further down the coast, so it will take them about an hour to get there, even at the large speed the bikes were going with the car close behind.

Trusting his sharp senses to keep the car going safely down the road, Dante took the opportunity to observe the girl next to him. She wore a baby pink summer dress and pink flip-flops with a big daisy on each. To round up the girly outfit there just had to be the same flower on her head, a decoration on a hair band and attached quite well to it or it would have long gone flying thanks to the wind that played with her dark brown hair.

It was amazing how fast she recovered, although on closer observation one could see she was no longer the same, mostly by the fact that she no longer spent her nights carelessly roaming the streets. Dante figured it must be something in the genes that makes women from that family get up so fast after being knocked down, when life serves them lemons they make a lemonade. Or in Lady's case, crush the lemon with her foot and squeeze the juice in life's eyes.

She even got herself a job, part-time help at the local bookstore and full time bookworm with a newly awakened interest in occult. Purely for educational purpose, know your enemy and all that stuff, she assured her cousin, who caught her going through Dante's collection of literature. Books about demons, to be more precise, not his collection of adult magazines, although at this point Lady would prefer it was the latter and Dante's ego would have preferred not having to say that a girl likes him just because of his good books.

But it's time to put those thoughts aside, this week long vacation at the beach was promising to be fun and he'll make sure nothing spoils it.

The house they were staying at was cozy and painted white. Since they were planning on spending most of their time outside, it didn't matter that inside was only a rather small kitchen combined with living room and only one bedroom, meaning the guys had to share the pull-out couch, something it took a long time till they agreed to. The terrace on the back of the house looked rather nice and had stairs going to the beach. The beach… now that was the biggest selling point for Lady when she went to look for their accommodation. What was so special about this beach was that it was kilometer long and closed up from both sides by tall sharp rocks, forming a lagoon where they could have all the privacy they needed, which was very important for a teenager with a freakish-looking arm and a woman who wanted to sunbathe in peace without interruptions of male kind. However, it was not so important to a certain someone who wouldn't mind treating his blue eyes to skimpy bikini tops barely holding the content in place, but he figured he should keep quiet or as people say - don't look gifted horse in the mouth.

The temperature was really high now, the fault for that was sitting up in the sky, with the intent on murdering with it's rays anything that was not lucky enough to being able to relocate to the shade.

The terrace was occupied by three people, all wearing as little as possible while still in the boundaries of decent. Lady was the only one that was in the water, not being able to wait to test her endurance swimming from one side of the lagoon to the other as fast as she could. The result was quite impressive and satisfied for now she swam to the shore and returned to her friends. Drying her hair with the towel, she failed to notice Rose's raised eyebrows, Nero's blushing face and a look of approval Dante was giving her. The reason for that was another thing she failed to notice, and that was the fact that her white one-piece bathing suit turned see-through when it got wet.

"That was some exercise! You three should get in the water, too, cool yourself off. Look at you, you're all red from the heat!" Lady was still oblivious to what happened and continued inside to wash the salt off of herself and put some sunblock. She needed to work on her tan as well, not just her endurance.

"And you're calling me a tease…" Rose spoke to Dante as soon as she was sure her cousin was out of earshot.

"You're both robbing my brain of blood." He answered, noting that his red swim trunks got a little tighter.

"Judging by the small size of it, that's a quick and easy job. Of course, I'm surprised that at your age you can still get it up…" The third person in their group just couldn't help himself to add that comment to the conversation, always glad to find an opportunity to pay the elder back for all his teasing.

"Oh Nero, Nero…" From the tone of Dante's voice you could tell immediately that he had a comeback ready. "And I'm surprised you already started to grow hair down there. And if my brain is small, it's still bigger than yours, along with something else…"

"How would you know how big my dick is?!" Insult a guy's manhood and manners go out the window, judging by the fact that Rose was pretty much invisible to them right now.

"Well, I'll just say, next time you go take a piss in the middle of the night, make sure that the bathroom door is actually closed."

Watching Nero's face was like watching a time-lapse photography of tomato ripening.

"Damn pervert, you've been peeping on me?!"

"Only that one time… honestly, I see better stuff in the mirror. I'm surprised it wasn't your girlfriend who showed up on my doorstep instead of you, unless she just sent you to investigate if I'm still available…"

A string of curses erupted from Nero's mouth and soon both males were running on the beach, Dante trying his best to avoid the ghostly blue hand that wanted to get the hold of him and probably send him flying half across the ocean.

"What's all the shouting about? Those two were peaceful when I left them a moment ago." Lady appeared on the doorway, a bottle of sunblock in her hand and a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh it's nothing, they just needed to stretch their legs, spend some of that extra energy… you know how guys are…" A splashing sound caught attention of both females. The two hot-headed males have decided to continue their race in the ocean, quickly disappearing in the distance.

Lady sighed and turned to her cousin.

"Hey, I've got fruit salad in the fridge, want some? This heat is becoming quite bothersome."

"Ooh, fruit salad… count me in!" Rose jumped up from the chair she was sitting on and practically ran inside.

Out in the ocean, just before the exit from the lagoon, Dante slowed down his pace and turned to look if Nero was still on his tail. The younger hunter was there alright, just moving a little slower as the effect of the adrenaline was slowly starting to wear off.

"Cooled off yet, kid?" The older man teased.

And then Nero stopped, his expression turning into a very worried one. Dante followed his gaze and noticed that the demonic arm was glowing very bright, and as pissed off the kid was, he just knew this was not the glow that reflected his feelings. Underneath something dark was approaching and before he could react something long and slick wrapped itself around Dante's leg and pulled him below the surface. Struggling to break free, he managed to show up briefly on the surface, just long enough to scream to the shocked teen.

"Nero… get the swords… hurry!"

Knowing that without weapons they were helpless against this unknown threat, Nero gathered up all his strength and swam to the shore. Not even reaching the beach, he used his senses to locate the swords propped up in the living room and using his devil bringer grabbed them through the window, scaring the two women inside. As soon as the weapons were in his possession, he changed direction and at the speed that would put the best Olympic swimmers to shame went to help his captured friend.

In the meantime, dragged into the deep blue, Dante could get a better look at the enemy. In short, he would describe it as a giant, black wig. It appeared to be attached to the bottom, the only parts that were mobile were it's many black tentacles, swirling around, grabbing onto his limbs with the intention of hindering his movements.

And then in a split second one of the tentacles stiffened up and like a spear pierced through his stomach, sending jolts of pain through his body. Well, at least some good news, this tentacle monster was of a murderous kind and not amorous like in those Japanese animations he saw once. Now that would be a bad situation!

Not like this was much better, the pain was getting stronger and while Dante could hold his breath far longer than any human, he wasn't exactly sure how long that is. Letting his instincts take over, he triggered and like a ferocious animal began to tear through the demons tissue with his claws and teeth, finally breaking free from it's grasp. From the corner of his eye he caught a sight of a familiar glow and outstretched his arm just in time to receive his old companion, the large sword named Rebellion.

The demon struck again, but was met with resistance and soon the water was painted dark red as two hunters sliced through the tentacles, mentally cursing at their seemingly unending number.

It has become impossible to see in this chaos, and both Dante and Nero had to rely heavily on their demonic senses to know where to strike, being careful not to accidentally hit each other in the process.

And then Dante spotted an opening, a soft glow coming from demons body, or at least what little was visible from it. He gathered all his strength and with a sword pointed down struck hoping to hit demons weak spot. He smirked when he felt the metal going through something soft and the water became black from the great amount of blood. For a few moments it was like night has fallen and then it began to clear out. Whatever demon has occupied the bottom of the lagoon, it was gone now and the two men could return to surface to breathe in the sweet oxygen.

Returning to the shore felt like forever and Dante just dropped on the sand from exhaustion. He opened his eyes only to meet with Lady's mismatched ones, worry written all over her face.

"What happened?" She demanded answers.

"Oh nothing much, just took care of an annoying neighbor. Sent him back to hell so he can tell his buddies what happens when you ruin my vacation." Dante propped himself up on his elbows. "Dammit kid, stop looking so cute!" He teased the teen, who was standing close, keeping his balance with the help of his sword. He did look cute, trying to catch breath while water dripped from his wet hair.

"I'm going to take a shower." He muttered, scratching his nose before making his way to the house, ignoring the laughter coming from the older male.

By the evening things have returned to normal. Well okay, when you are a demon hunter fighting demons is normal to you, but what was meant here is that everything was peaceful again.

Rose was sleeping in the bedroom and Nero was dozing off on the not very comfortable bed that came from the pull-out couch. He was a bit paranoid about sharing the bed with Dante, thoughts of being molested popping up in his head, so for some time he tried to stay awake hoping he will be safe if Dante fell asleep before him. Except the man was still not showing up and was whispering something to Lady on the terrace.

"No! Are you crazy?!" She raised her voice a bit, catching Nero's interest.

"Shh, you'll wake the kid… Just this time… I guarantee it's perfectly safe." Nero could hear Dante's husky voice.

"Fine, just this time… but I hope you know what will happen to you if anyone finds out about this." That sounded very suspicious, and when it was followed by a giggle from Lady and the sounds of sand crunching as a pair of bare feet ran away, Nero couldn't help but get up and see what was happening.

His mouth fell open when he saw Dante running towards the water with Lady on his shoulder, surprisingly very happy for once.

But when clothes started flying and two naked bodies disappeared in the darkness of the sea, Nero knew it was that thing he heard about once. Skinny dipping was it called? Whatever it was, he decided he had enough and returned to bed, suddenly not being able to sleep. One thing's for sure, tomorrows breakfast is going to be served with extra awkward on the side.


	13. 26

**Author's note: **Kinda short, but will have to do until I get the long one done. Also, this one is **another universe** story, and is not connected to any of the previous ones. I'm placing it sometime before DMC3.

* * *

**26. Perfect**

How did things end up this way?

He is a demon hunter, a macho man with a sword in his hand and a body no woman can resist.

She couldn't resist it either. And neither could he say no to her. But youth is foolish and doesn't think through, and for that reason is now Dante, a legend in making, sitting on the beat up old couch in his new office, feet propped up on the coffee table, and a tiny baby in his strong arms.

Ever so curious blue eyes circled around, exploring daddy's focused face, his own eyes of matching blue color hiding slightly behind the white bangs. With it's tiny hands the baby kept trying to grip the half-empty bottle, while the hungry mouth happily sucked on the nipple. When the bottle proved to be too much of a task, besides it was held firmly in place by Dante's big hand, tiny fingers slipped lower and feeling the sleeve of the red leather coat squeezed as tightly as possible.

His little Antonia… Her mother thought it would be a great idea to name her after the father. Imagine her surprise when he told her that his real name actually isn't Anthony, but by then the name Antonia has grown on her. And it suits the little rascal.

Feeling satiated, Antonia stopped sucking on the nipple and let it fall out of her mouth, leaving some of the delicious milk inside the bottle. Setting the bottle on the table, Dante placed his daughter on his shoulder and gently rubbed her back, forcing the sucked in air out of her stomach, feeling just a tad proud of her loud belch. Maybe it was still far from her father's, but she was on the right path.

He stroked her soft hair, smoothing out the fluffy, white cloud a bit, before getting up and placing her in the baby carriage next to his desk.

This action was not to her liking, and as soon as she realized she was lying down, her pretty face twisted, tears started forming in the corner of her eyes and she expressed her protest in only way a baby could - by wailing so loud it sent Dante into panic mode.

But a bit of tummy rubbing and reassuring that daddy is still here, and the little siren got silenced for now. Clutching a long ear of her white bunny in one hand, and sucking on the thumb of her other hand, she dozed off, lulled into sleep by rhythmic motion of her father gently moving the carriage back and forth.

Time seemed to have slowed down in the office as the two people occupying it were catching on much needed sleep, each in their favorite place - Antonia in her carriage and Dante in his chair, with feet on the desk.

A sound came from the carriage, a faint one, but enough for Dante to jerk awake. Something was bothering his little girl and that was evident from the face she was making. He looked her over, trying to figure out what went wrong, but it wasn't until he picked her up and a sound came from the direction of her diaper, followed by her face relaxing in bliss, that he realized what was going on. She filled her diaper, and being alone with her he had no other choice but to change the smelly thing by himself. As much as he loved his daughter, the stuff that came out of her was another story, but it was time for him to man up and recall what his wife had taught him.

With the changing pad spread out on his desk, and the dangerous items out of baby's reach, he started the difficult task of taking off the pink footie from a child that absolutely refused to be still. With the small garment finally off and thrown to the side, he stood for a moment, mentally preparing himself for what's to come. In quick motion he opened up the diaper… and backed away, with a disgusted look on his face, holding his nose in futile attempt to keep the offending smell out of it.

"Ugh… kid… is your butthole a tiny hellgate? Cause I swear, something this disgusting could only come from the Underworld!"

A wail saying "daddy, I'm cold" set him in quick motion, and soon enough the baby was washed, dried and in a clean diaper, while the dirty stink bomb was thrown out. In fact, that was the only trash Dante didn't need a special incentive to take outside, probably because it smelled bad from the start.

Playing with her on the couch, he smiled at her happy face and the gurgling noises she was making, afraid of what's to come for her, but at the same time feeling so blessed. Cause to him, she was so perfect…


	14. 27

**Author's note:** Finally finished! It's shorter than I planned, but I'm just glad it's done. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to rewrite the dialog until Dante and Nero stopped sounding like an old married couple. Actually, I'm still not sure if they no longer sound like that...

* * *

**27. Snow**

It was early into the winter, yet the roads were already getting their first layer of white snow, visibly thicker in the mountain area, where a lonely red car was making it's way to higher grounds.

"Achoo!"

"Don't tell me you've already caught a cold, we have yet to set foot in the snow!" Dante chided his younger partner, the latter bundled up to his nose.

"It's this scarf..." Nero pulled the fluffy mess of a long red scarf a little lower. "There is so much of it and it's tickling my nose!"

"You should have told your girlfriend in advance if you didn't want it that long, but because you kept quiet somewhere out there is an entire herd of sheep freezing their little butts off. Besides, combined with your pretty face it makes you look like a schoolgirl." The elder loved to tease.

"Sheep have their fleece removed in spring, you dumbass, so none of them are freezing right now. And if I look like a schoolgirl, then hanging around me makes you look like a perverted old geezer." Nero was not going to let the teasing go unpunished. "On second thought, you already look like one, whether I'm around or not!"

Meow! Kitty got it's claws out and as much as Dante would like to laugh and continue teasing right now, he had to suppress the urge and focus instead on the snowy road ahead and the large castle situated in between mountains that just came into view.

Doors were slammed, swords placed on the owners back and soon the sound of two pairs of boots crunching through the snow mixed in with wheezing of the cold wind.

"No admiring of the architecture this time..." Dante spoke to his younger companion, observing the castle they were passing by. "This job requires us to clean the back yard... or in this case, the mountain side that the owners use as a skiing path. It seems one of their friends met his untimely demise at the claws of about dozen Frosts." Nero cringed at the thought of what might have been left of the poor guy after the Frosts were done, frozen meat strips came to mind. "The rest of the party barely made it out alive..." Dante continued his story, zipping up his coat and lifting the collar since he now felt the chilling effect of winter wind. "... and have relocated to another country, leaving me to clean up the pest in peace." He slapped Nero on the back so hard, the boy stumbled and nearly fell into the snow. "What do you say my little kitty, ready to take care of those frosty rats?"

"If a certain fat, red rat would refrain from hitting me like that, then I'm ready." Nero retorted, punching Dante in the arm.

"Is it cause I like extra cheese on my pizza that you felt calling me that?" The elder rubbed his sore upper arm, those punches from Nero's devil bringer could really hurt. "Cause I assure you, all those calories get lost soon enough and there is nothing but perfect underneath these clothes." Dante pointed to his tall figure, layers of leather clothing hiding beautifully sculpted muscles underneath.

Nero rolled his eyes, not wanting to think about Dante and his body. He accidentally caught the man once in the shower and has been begging for amnesia ever since. "It's not about your damn diet, old man, although it wouldn't kill you to eat some healthy home cooking from time to time."

"As long as it ain't your girlfriend doing the cooking. That one time I tried something she made, I regretfully realized why you are so thin."

Nero's eye twitched and he made an abrupt stop. "Take that back! There is nothing wrong with Kyrie's cooking."

"Hey, no need to get so pissy on me, your girl ain't here to deny you any sexy time should you not defend her fervently enough." Dante had his hands up in a defensive pose, eying the ever growing blue glow of Nero's right arm. His little glow stick did tend to show emotions rising, but Dante had this feeling in his gut that they are about to get company. And his feeling was right. From the corner of his eye he caught sleek, lizard-like bodies closing in on them, preparing to tear their soft flesh with those razor sharp claws. He reached for his sword, expecting Nero to do the same, only the younger slayer was still turned to him, apparently oblivious to the oncoming danger.

"How would you recognize good cooking, anyway! All you ever eat is that cheap crap spread on a thin piece of dough. And the only other thing you eat besides pizza is that friggin' strawberry sundae!" Nero's rant went on, without him showing any signs of noticing his partner, who at this point had his sword drawn out and was making hand signals to warn the boy to prepare for battle. "I mean, have you ever tried ordering a pie? Or pancakes? Or hell, if you are that obsessed with the damn strawberries, why not order a bowl of just that?! Why does it always have to be the ice cream?!" One of the Frosts made a lunge at Nero, and Dante was already prepared to jump to the rescue. His help however was not needed, as Nero grabbed the large ice blue lizard by it's tail, spin it around a bit before throwing it into it's buddies, knocking two or three off their feet. He finally turned to the snarling pack of ice demons.

"Can't you bastards see I'm talking to the man?! Or do I need to beat it into your thick skulls?!" Grabbing Red Queen off his back and revving it up, he ran up to his enemy with the intent on using the battle to let out the steam. Dante just shrugged and followed suit, making a mental note to give the kid just decaff from now on.

The fight was relatively easy, given the fact that they were both experienced demon hunters, although Nero was still a diamond that needed some polishing. However, the biggest setback for them was not being able to use guns, as the loud noise from a gunshot could start an avalanche, and that is one thing Dante wasn't sure if demons could survive, so he decided not to take a chance.

Still, the feeling of cold steel passing through flesh, sharp screams of dying demons, blood spraying and flowing, all that made Dante so excited and his emotions so intense. And he was pretty certain Nero felt the same, tossing the lizards around like they were nothing but some ugly rag dolls. Dante had to admit, the kid looked beautiful as he sliced and diced better than any of those fancy modern food processors.

They were almost over, each of the men on his side with a half-dead Frost to finish off. The one Dante was fighting went down fast, and the man turned around to see the younger one killing his own soon enough. But a movement above wiped the smirk off the older slayer's face, he miscounted on how many they have left to fight and the last Frost used the fact that Nero was distracted to jump on him and kick the Red Queen out of his reach.

Dante's feet started moving, albeit a tiny bit too slow in the deep snow. Before he could reach Nero, the younger one already pulled his gun out and loud gunshots echoed through the mountain, until the beast was finally cut in half by Rebellion and perished.

Nero found himself being pulled to his feet, but as soon as he was up a heavy smack on the back of his head nearly knocked him back down. "What did I tell you this morning?! Do not use guns!" Dante was angry, but so was Nero, who didn't think he deserved that after nearly getting killed. He picked up his sword that was lying a bit further away and was about to yell at the old man, when he noticed him staring up with wide opened eyes. Turning his head around to see what got Mr. Cocky so worried, he found himself swallowing a big lump in his throat as the huge white cloud of destruction, followed by deafening thunder, rolled closer to their position, threatening to swallow them both.

The last thing Nero saw was a red blur pushing him under a cliff, before the ice cold sky fell on them and it all went black.

TO BE CONTINUED... (cause I wanted to feel evil for once)


	15. 28

**Author's notes:** I got the sequel to Snow right here, you can put the torches and pitchforks away now...

* * *

**28. Cold** (continued from Snow)

Cold... so cold...

He felt so tired, lost in the darkness. And then he felt something wrap around him and pull him up. He wanted to move, to open his eyes, he wanted it so badly, but the body refused to listen. From somewhere far away a voice called out to him.

"Nero... Nero... wake up..." But the boy remained still.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nero drifted back into consciousness, relishing the warmth that engulfed him now. The only thing he was displeased about was the unknown heavy weight on his body, hindering his movement. And why did he keep feeling some warm breeze on the side of his face?

Opening his tired eyes, the first thing he noticed was being inside some room. The second thing he regretfully realized was that the heavy weight and the "breeze" belonged to same source - his elder partner was lying on top of him! Now, while he didn't mind his naked skin coming into contact with Dante's while they were having one of their friendly wrestling matches, the same thing happening while being with him in bed was an entirely different story, and he was currently panicking and trying to push the man off, succeeding after great effort. With a loud thud, Dante fell on the floor and Nero was free. Free to wonder where he is and why is he in bed naked like on the day he was born. At least the big guy on the floor still had his pants on, that was a small relief.

Speaking of the big guy, he was waking up himself, not the least bit pleased with his change of position. Sitting up and yawning loudly, he noticed a pair of quizzical eyes fixated on him and a blanket pulled up so high it made Nero look like a virgin on a first wedding night.

"You're awake! Finally! I was beginning to worry you might have been struck by the Sleeping Beauty curse and have to be woken up with a kiss." He laughed at his own joke, but Nero remained serious. Opening his mouth to say something, the younger one struggled to make some sound, but the pain similar to the one of thousand little needles piercing your flesh was making it significantly harder, until a hoarse whisper finally came out.

"I'd rather clean the office floor with my tongue, than have your lips anywhere near mine."

"Keep being such a sourpuss and I'll make you do just that..." Dante noticed the trouble the boy had with speaking. Getting up, he walked to the other side of the four-poster bed and took a teapot from the bedside table, pouring a cup of hot liquid, before handing it to Nero. Still being troubled by his lack of clothing, the younger slayer used one hand to take the cup, while the other one remained in it's place, gripping firmly the blanket and keeping it up.

Dante chuckled. "No need for modesty, milady! You don't have anything I haven't seen before. And if you had I would have seen it when I was undressing you..."

The image of Dante undressing him all the way to his birthday suit made Nero flare up in the face. They may have lived together and worked together, but that was a bit too much intimacy for his comfort.

He tried to mask his embarrassment by downing the whole cup of something that resembled herbal tea at once.

The tea felt good while going down Nero's throat, dulling the pain in it for a short time, even though his tongue was burned. Raising his eyes towards Dante, who was putting on his shirt at the moment, he decided it was time for questions.

"What happened?"

"What happened?! Well after the mountain nicely tucked us in under who knows how many tons of snow... and by the way, next time I end up with a broken back and a long way to fresh air because of you, my foot will be kicking your butt all the way home..." The threat seemed serious, although Nero would say it's not justified, since sometimes shit happens. And it's not like he fired the gun just for fun.

"Now what was I saying?" Dante continued. "Ah, yes... After I dug my way out, dragging your unconscious little ass with me, I still had to walk to the castle, carrying two swords and a heavy kid on my shoulder, find a suitable room for us to stay, start the fire in the fireplace... the only thing that went easy... dump you in the bed, take your clothes off, which were soaked all the way to your underwear, proving my point that in our business leather is the best choice." Not if we were in some tropical land, Nero would argue if he had the strength to do that now. His head still felt oddly heavy, and he wanted to lie back and relax on the pillows, but there was still one thing that bothered him.

"Why did I find you on top of me? The bed is large enough for both..."

Dante smirked for a moment, wanting to tease the younger one, but opting out for truth in the end. "You were not getting warm fast enough, so I had to use the old-fashioned method of sharing body heat. The last thing I wanted was a Nero-sized popsicle on my hands." He narrowed his eyes, not liking the fact that Nero, even though he had a nice long nap, still appeared like he would want to sleep for another week. Sitting on the bed close to him, he felt the boy's forehead with the back of his palm, displeased by what he found out.

"I'll be right back!" Dante went into a side room; Nero figured it was the bathroom from what little he could see. A few moments later, he emerged with something small and elongated in his hand. As he came closer, the item turned out to be a thermometer.

"Say aaa…" He moved to put the thermometer into Nero's mouth, but the kid was not cooperating.

"I don't need that."

"Don't be a brat, kid; I just want to check your temperature…" Another attempt and another failure, as Nero kept his mouth closed tight.

"Nero…" Dante was visibly irritated. "Open your damn mouth or I swear I'll flip you over and take your temperature on the other side!" Quickly grabbing the thermometer and sticking it into his mouth, Nero sank into pillows and pulled the blanket up, leaving only his white hair and large, frightened eyes visible.

"That's better…" The elder petted the younger one's hair, like a parent would do to a child, earning himself an angry glare. Couple of minutes later he retrieved the thermometer and with a loud sigh expressed his disappointment over what it told him.

"It looks like you've been playing in the snow for too long. Get some rest, I'm not going to force you to travel until I'm sure you are well enough to handle it."

"I'm not a helpless little kid! I'm getting my clothes and we can leave, unless it's you who needs a nap, grandpa…" Nero got up to retrieve his garments from the chair by the fireplace where they were drying, but the moment he was on his feet, the whole world turned upside down and his knees gave in. The only thing saving him from painfully kissing the floor was his friend's strong arm wrapping around his chest.

"Learn from your elder, kid, and swallow your pride just this once." Dante placed the weakened boy back into bed. "Demon blood in your veins doesn't mean you can't get sick, it will just help you get on your feet sooner, if you are smart enough to take it easy in the meantime." Pulling the blanket over Nero, he tucked him in tightly, staying by his side for a moment, with a worried look in his eyes.

"I'm going to find you something to eat. You're going to need the nourishment." He left the room, letting the feverish boy get much needed rest.

Nero wasn't sure when he fell asleep again or how long it was, all he knew was that his mind was floating somewhere in the abyss, until a cold sensation on his forehead dragged him back to reality.

He cracked his eyes open, barely lifting the heavy eyelids, and met with the concerned gaze of his older partner, sitting by his side and trying to cool off his overheating head with a wet towel.

If Dante had known he would be spending the night listening to the kid's raspy breaths and watching his body fight off the fever, he would have left Nero at home, even if it meant tying him to the bed. Dipping the towel into cold water once more, before putting it back on the head of the hot furnace under the blanket, he remembered all the times he said that the brat needed cooling off and despite the seriousness of the situation smiled a little.

Nero will be back on his feet real soon, his trusted friend will make sure of that.


	16. 29

**Author's notes:** Short, but sad... And it's again something from AU, ties in with Perfect (story number 26). Placed somewhere post DMC3, but before DMC1.

* * *

**29. Loss**

Why were you taken away from me, my beautiful angel? This devil sheds tears once more.

Is my blood truly cursed, am I destined to lose all I love?

I still remember how we crossed paths that night, two street rats finding a bit of warmth, one night without feeling alone. We separated with the morning sunlight, and I thought that was it. But life had different plans, and one night I confronted a girl asking around questions about me. I would lie if I said my heart hadn't skipped a beat when I recognized your deep blue eyes and those full lips. My knees nearly gave in when I saw the large belly and I realized my child is in it.

At that moment I had to use all my strength not to run, out of fear of commitment and fear of what's to come. I had a family once, lost it so brutally even to this day I have nightmares. But you knew that, my angel, even though I hardly spoke of my life before you. You guessed what the state of my mind was from all the nights you saw me pacing around the office, from the way I cherished the photo of my mother on the desk, from the way I stained your shirt with my tears the night I saw my other half for the last time, when I took part in his demise.

But I'll never smell that sweet scent of your perfume on your neck, never feel your soft skin under my fingers, and never play with your golden curls again.

All these years I spent in fear of old enemy returning and taking my happiness once again, but life has a sick sense for humor and the one who ended up taking you away never actually wanted you dead.

A drunk driver, I never would have thought of that. A pathetic little worm that overestimated his abilities and didn't bother to call a cab. He thought to be invincible, thought accidents happen to other people, but all it took was one second, one mistake and you were gone. One second turned to a lifetime of regret.

I went to see him, that bastard. I stood in the shadows with the intent to strike him dead. But the punishment my sword would give would be mercy compared to the one he placed upon himself. Human emotions are a powerful weapon, and he will sit now in jail drowning in his guilt.

And I have my sorrow and the memories of people I've lost to keep me company at night.

Don't even remember how I got to the graveyard today, everything is in a haze. My friends took care of everything, Lady even made sure I put on a suit. I think it's a black suit, considering the occasion; I'm not sure now that the colors are gone.

Even the ground they are putting you in is black… no, beyond black… darkness only those who say their last farewell to the one they love can see. And I was so young when I saw it the first time; saw the long, dark arms reaching out.

I clutch the child in my arms, as the casket is lowered to the bottom. Her heartbeat and warm breaths on my neck my only comfort in this moment. But are my eyes deceiving me, has the fear taken over? Because I could swear I see the arms again, reaching out for the last little light in my darkness. I am not giving her away without a fight. I would tear through the entire army of hell with nothing but my hands and teeth, before any of them even got the chance to lay a single claw on my most precious.

I found myself being dragged away and realize the ceremony is long over, the darkness and my heart buried deep, deep underground. I let my feet carry me forward, my mind is still tired.

It is evening already as I finally escape the grasp of the mental state I was in. After much crying, my child is at last sleeping, curled up in my bed. I steal a few minutes of peace for something I needed to do. Out of the desk drawer I take out the most beautiful photo of my departed angel, quietly as possible I put it in a frame and place her smiling face next to the one of my mother. Before returning to my child, my precious reason to live, I couldn't help but whisper a plea to the old photo: "Take care of her for me, mom. Take care of my precious Gemma…"

Wherever they are, I hope they are happy and safe.


	17. 30

**Author's notes:** No, don't worry, I haven't forgotten this, I just ran into some creativity issues. But on the bright side, what I wrote is funny... or it should be...

* * *

**30. Surprise**

Teenagers are a peculiar thing, already on the threshold of adulthood, and yet they can't seem to let go of that childlike curiosity that inspires them to do things they shouldn't and enter places best avoided. You can be sure that there isn't a haunted house in the world that wasn't searched through by tough playing guys desperately trying to hide the fact that their knees are shaking and their female companions, some of which very likely to piss themselves if so much as a mouse ran across their path. But there is nothing like fear to bring two bodies close together, right guys?

And when you live in a shady, dilapidated neighborhood, and run a mysterious business called "Devil May Cry", you can bet that sooner or later in the middle of the night you're going to hear squeaking and shuffling of a pair of two-legged rats entering your abode.

"Hey Benny, are you sure that guy ain't home? I don't want any surprises…" The young female whispered, walking as silent as possible through the dark office.

"The light ain't on, Tina, and neither is that sign above the door… that means he's out." Her male companion tried to calm her down. "Now c'mon, I want to see if Jack's bro was right and this guy has actual swords hanging on his wall."

"But wouldn't it be easier if we just turned on the light?" Tina was tired of tripping on empty bottles scattered around the floor.

"And risk someone seeing us? I can tell you're never going to make a career as a thief…"

"Why would I want to be a thief? I plan on going to college and becoming a fashion designer."

"Whatever…" Benny was not going to argue with her. He's seen her attempts at fashion, that career had even less chances than the criminal one.

Getting closer to the desk in the back, Benny pulled out a small flashlight to see better in complete darkness. On the wall behind the desk he saw the reason for coming here, several swords mounted on the wall, menacing design and each sharp as a razor. His shaky hand lightly touched the large broadsword that unlike others was just leaning on the wall, as if its owner needed to have it on hand's reach. With his finger he traced the skull on the hilt, becoming more and more excited. This was so much better than what you can see in museums!

In the meantime, Tina was feeling very uncomfortable just standing there. Not just because it was pitch black and they just broke into some guy's office, but she also made the mistake of wearing high heels and the feeling in her toes was gone for some time now.

"Hey Benny…"

"What?" His tone was more than a little irritated. He didn't like his research to be interrupted.

"I need to sit down. My feet are killing me." And as many other women, she wished someone would finally come up with shoes that gave you sexy feet and were comfortable as well.

Benny quickly scanned the room with his flashlight – a bar, a small fridge, and then he stopped as soon as he noticed the side of a couch.

"There is a couch on your right, by the wall… " He mumbled before returning to his fun.

Tina somehow found her way through the dark, bumping into desk, hitting some more bottles that made a somewhat loud noise while rolling away, finally feeling very happy when her foot hit the base of the couch. Turning around, she sat down. But instead of relaxing, poor little Tina actually tensed up, sucking up air in surprise.

"Benny…"

"What now?!"

"Benny, I'm pretty sure this ain't the couch cushion I'm sitting on…" You could tell from the sound of her voice that she was frightened about something.

"Good guess…" A voice belonging to an older male came from the direction of the couch. "And you can be pretty sure that if you don't remove your behind, it won't be a couch spring that will poke you in it."

Both teens had a lump size of a boulder in their throat. Turning towards the couch, all they could see was a pair of light blue eyes glowing in the dark.

The scream that Tina released at that point was enough to make any man deaf, let alone one with sensitive hearing. Dante's ears were still buzzing as he felt the girls weight being lifted off his crotch and the sound of her hurried footsteps followed next. Screw pain, she was in danger of being killed by some freak!

"Tina?!" Her boyfriend called out to her, taking the cue and running out the office after her.

Tina didn't make it far, hitting the heavy door with all her force to make them fly open, she ran out and in that moment found herself falling over stairs as one of her heels broke. Just as she was about to get up again, trying to ignore the pain in her knees and arms, she felt a heavy weight falling on top of her as Benny jumped out without looking and tripped.

The mystery man in red appeared at the doorway, casually leaned against it and looked over the teens lying on the street.

"You kids okay? Do I need to call your parents?"

Benny somehow managed to get up; thanks to landing on his misfortunate girlfriend, he actually suffered less damage than her.

"No need to, mister! We'll be going now." He grabbed Tina's arm and put her over his shoulder, using the adrenaline to make a quick getaway. He dreaded the morning and having to explain all the scraps and bruises, but at least they still had heads on their shoulders.

Dante just looked after them and shook his head before going back in.

"Damn brats, that's the second time this week! I gotta figure out a way to keep them out…"


	18. 31

**Author's note:** Summer is in full swing and that means I fell victim to lethargy, just in case you've been wondering why I don't update so often as before... also makes me worried if the quality of this work is as good as previous ones...

* * *

**31. Glitter**

It was a cold winter night with no snow, just the freezing wind blowing, playing with litter on the empty streets. All living souls were huddled inside where it was warm, whether it be their cozy home or a bar they were reluctant to leave from, for some not just because past the threshold waited the chill that went all the way to the bones.

Below the street level was one cozy, little bar, filled with patrons in various stages of inebriation.

The light in the room was dim, with only the stage in the corner illuminated brighter. The piano man was playing some melancholic tune, but it was the singer that gave the song it's soul.

Her voice was somewhat raspy, thanks to the cigarettes she would lit up one after another when she was not occupied with work. Still, it gave her once beautiful, melodic voice a certain charm, made her sad song so much closer to the hearts of those that surrounded her and looked at her through the bottom of a glass.

One man was particularly interested in her, trying not to make it too obvious by just stealing an occasional glance in her direction. His unusual light colored eyes enjoyed the sight of the black dress hugging her body, the glitter on it changing it's glow as she moved under the light.

Her song ended, leaving no one without at least a single tear in their eye. Not really caring for the audience or the sound of clapping that came from all corners, she made her way to the dressing room, practically kicking the door open in her haste to get to her coat. From the pocket she pulled out a silver flask and took a swig to calm her nerves.

"Whoa, go easy on that babe! You don't want some shady guy taking advantage of your drunken ass. And a fine ass it is, if I may add."

She quickly turned her head and saw a young man standing in the doorway, his stance full of self-confidence. His looks were quite memorable, cause his red leather coat and matching pants would be hard to miss, with black boots and other details breaking the stream of bloody red. Interestingly, his hair was white as snow, so uncharacteristic for a man of thirty at most.

She licked her lips and put the flask back into the pocket.

"Thanks for the warning… Now what do you want?" She was in no mood for company tonight, and had made it known to him not just with harsh words, but also with the very unfriendly glare in his direction.

He walked closer to her, not even trying to hide the fact that he enjoyed the sight of her curves in a tight dress and her bare back.

"Don't be so mean, darling, I just came to tie some loose ends you left."

"Loose ends?" This sparked her interest and left her wondering how much did he know.

She watched him walk slowly around the room, running his fingers over items on the table.

"Six months ago a man was killed." He began to talk. "That did not come as a surprise, considering the charge he had just evaded… Rape is such a nasty thing, and sadly lawyers have it so easy when public is quick to blame the wrong side… Anyway, the police suspected the victim had gotten her revenge, but couldn't prove it. And then she disappeared from the public, but everywhere she went a trail of dead bodies started showing up. Men that were killed quite brutally, like the murderer wasn't human…"

She flinched when he suddenly turned towards her, pulling a silver gun from under his coat.

"You did quite a research…" She tried to buy herself some time.

He chuckled. "Not me, my client. I'm just the handy man that came to do the dirty job."

Cold sweat was breaking on her brow. "Are you going to kill me now?"

His light blue eyes met with her brown ones. "No, not you… just the demon you brought to the light!" His hand shifted just slightly up before the bullets came out in quick motion, hitting the terrifying creature waiting in the shadows. It was purple and green in color and loosely resembled a woman with large claws. Enraged that it was attacked, with a shrill cry the creature leaped forward, but found only empty air where the man stood just a moment before. The demon quickly looked around, the attacker was not a mere human like the ones before and speed was required to stay alive. Light reflected on metal and the demons vision went red. It screamed in pain as the large sword tore through it's flesh, separating body parts till there was nothing but blood and a heap of something rotten on the floor.

Putting his sword on his back, the man turned to leave, but stopped when the woman's voice reached his ears.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" She was looking at him, crying and shaking like a leaf on the wind. He just stood there in silence. "I know it's not much of an excuse, but when that thing came to me I was in such a dark place… that man… that man had promised me the stars, and then ran me through the mud. I just wanted to punish him for all the shame I felt! The others… they were just unfortunate victims of the demons hunger."

"Don't give me your excuses, I am not your judge, but I will tell you one thing - don't make a pact with a creature which exist only to drag you even further down, mud is nothing compared to the fires of Hell." He walked away, disappearing just a moment before police came rushing in.

Outside, on the street illuminated with neon lights, he looked up to the sky that he knew should be glittering, but it wasn't. Strange was the light of big cities, it pushes the stars into dark.


	19. 32

**Author's note:** Stock up on tissues, that's all I'm saying...

* * *

**32. Tulips **

Autumn was in full swing, painting the landscape in warm colors, a final gift from the nature before the cold and gray winter steps in.

A small house could be found just outside the city. The passage of time and harsh weather really showed on the crumbly old walls and wood that began to rot, but it could still function as a home. And it still did function as a home.

Behind the house, in the shade of a tall oak tree, a woman was kneeling and digging small holes in the soft ground, putting something small before filling the hole back in. When she was done, she got up and dusted the knees of her worn out jeans, removing most of the dirt, although the stains were still very much visible. She took off her gardening gloves, and placed them in a pocket before her hands traveled up to fix her long blond hair tied in a ponytail.

Her eyes traveled across the yard, searching for her children, until they were found just a bit further away, running around and throwing acorns at each other. Their little white heads really stood out, like they were winter's children with snow in their hair. Happy giggles kept breaking the silence of the forest and brought a smile upon woman's lips. Two boys were like mirror images of each other, with just a bit different taste in clothing as one wore a red jacket, while the other was more happy with blue.

Their mother's smile didn't last long, with a roll of her eyes and deep sigh she watched the happy game of chase turn into rolling in the dirt. She wondered what would she be scrubbing more tonight, clothes or her two boys. With the way they were pulling and clawing at each other she might even need to take out her sewing kit. Not the medical kit though, thanks to their father's blood they could chew at each other like two rabid dogs and still come out without a trace on their skin.

Two pairs of bright blue eyes noticed the woman and soon enough little hands were tugging at her sweater.

"Mommy, what were you doing there?" One of the boys asked, pointing at the freshly dug soil.

The mother smiled and petted her sons' hair. "I was planting tulips so they could grow in spring."

"What's a tulip?" The red-clad boy curiously inquired. His brother scowled at him.

"A tulip is a flower with a long stem and a cup shaped flower on top. You'd know that if you read a book from time to time!" The response the boy got from his twin was a stuck out tongue and if their mother hadn't intervened it would turn into one of their fights.

"Dante! Vergil! That is not how you should behave!" She scolded them, holding tightly on their jackets to keep them apart. "Now go inside and wash up, dinner will be soon."

Growling and pushing at each other the boys were in no hurry to get inside the house. It wasn't until they saw their mother take a switch from a bush and move towards them with an angry face that they ran towards the door.

Come spring, the nature began to awake and rows of tulips emerged from the ground, raising their heads towards the sky until they turned into vividly colored cups.

But Eva and her sons were not there to see it. The house was empty and silent, devoid of life.


End file.
